This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) solicits grant applications in two related but distinct areas. The first area is in the development and testing of novel tools and methods of neuromodulation that go beyond the existing forms of neural stimulation. The second distinct area that this FOA seeks to encourage is the optimization of existing stimulation methods.

This funding opportunity announcement (FOA), in support of the NIH Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative, aims to support early stage development of entirely new and novel noninvasive human brain imaging technologies and methods that will lead to transformative advances in our understanding of the human brain. The FOA solicits unusually bold and potentially transformative approaches and supports small-scale, proof-of-concept development based on exceptionally innovative, original and/or unconventional concepts.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) solicits applications to create a Marmoset Coordination Center. The awardee will be responsible for two separate but related activities. The first activity will be to become the repository for genomic, pedigree, and event records (date of birth, medical, reproductive history) for captive marmosets. The awardee is expected to use that information to help make breeding recommendations to maximize the health and genetic diversity of the marmosets in primate colonies. Applicants are encouraged to adopt the model used by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

(Reissue of RFA-NS-16-021, PAR-18-413) Diffuse brain white matter disease is highly prevalent in the elderly, and has been clinically associated with vascular contributions to cognitive impairment and dementia (VCID) in both men and women. Diffuse white matter disease is thought to include a variety of pathologies including demyelination and/or fiber loss due to multifocal infarction and local ischemia. It is often accompanied by arteriosclerosis in deep penetrating arteries, multiple infarcts in the basal ganglia, brainstem or cerebellum. Though most commonly extending out from the periventricular surfaces, it may also occur in subcortical white matter. Diffuse white matter disease is typically detected in clinical settings as hyperintensity on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or signal loss on computed tomography x-ray (CT) scan; diffuse white matter disease can be detected histologically as well, for example in human pathology and in studies using animal models. Despite the prevalence and potential significance of white matter disease for cerebrovascular disease etiology and cognitive outcomes, much remains to be learned about the cellular and molecular causes, regional vulnerability, and progression over time. The physiological consequences of diffuse white matter disease on local axon and neural circuit function are almost completely unknown. The purpose of this FOA is to address some of the many gaps in knowledge of the biologic mechanisms of the commonly occurring, cerebrovascular disease and age-related diffuse white matter disease at the molecular, cellular, tissue and brain circuit level. The ultimate goal of this fundamental research is to inform future efforts to reduce the burden of illness due to age-related vascular contributions to cognitive impairment and dementia.